A Comparison of Ambient Casino Sound and Music: Effects on Dissociation and on Perceptions of Elapsed Time While Playing Slot Machines
Abstract
This research examined the effects of a casino's auditory character on estimates of elapsed time while gambling. More specifically, this study varied whether the sound heard while gambling was ambient casino sound alone or ambient casino sound accompanied by music. The tempo and volume of both the music and ambient sound were varied to manipulate temporal engagement and introspection. One hundred and sixty (males = 91) individuals played slot machines in groups of 5-8, after which they provided estimates of elapsed time. The findings showed that the typical ambient casino auditive environment, which characterizes the majority of gaming venues, promotes understated estimates of elapsed duration of play. In contrast, when music is introduced into the ambient casino environment, it appears to provide a cue of interval from which players can more accurately reconstruct elapsed duration of play. This is particularly the case when the tempo of the music is slow and the volume is high. Moreover, the confidence with which time estimates are held (as reflected by latency of response) is higher in an auditive environment with music than in an environment that is comprised of ambient casino sounds alone. Implications for casino management are discussed.
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Gambling environments are robustly full of cues, such as flashing lights and sounds.
“Gambling environments are robustly full of cues, such as flashing lights and sounds (Griffiths, 1993; Noseworthy & Finlay, 2009; Parke & Griffiths, 2006), and gamblers have been shown to display greater attentional bias and fixate their gaze for longer on gambling-related cues (Hudson, Olatunji, Gough, Yi, & Stewart, 2016; McGrath, Meitner, & Sears, 2018).”
From Cued for Risk: Evidence for an Incentive Sensitization Framework to Explain the Interplay between Stress and Anxiety, Substance Abuse, and Reward Uncertainty in Disordered Gambling Behavior (2019) · cites this paper as Noseworthy & Finlay, 2009
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- Authors
- Noseworthy, T. J., & Finlay, K.
- Affiliations
- Western University (CA)
- University of Guelph (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Noseworthy, Theodore J.
- Venue
- Journal of Gambling Studies
- Published
- 2009-07-07
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 331-342
- ISSN
- 1050-5350 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-3602
- OpenAlex
- W2052386729
- Cited by
- 57
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 2.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Journal of Gambling Studies (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Gambling Behavior and Treatments
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Keywords
- slot machines, gambling, time perception, dissociation, music tempo, music volume, self-reflection, response latency, casino management
- MeSH terms
- Acoustic Stimulation, Adult, Aged, Cues, Female, Gambling, Humans, Internal-External Control, Male, Middle Aged, Music, Ontario, Surveys and Questionnaires, Social Environment, Time Perception, Behavior, Addictive
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